


Chance Encounter

by TomPettysHat



Series: Maggie Coleman and Sonny Carisi [1]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Inspired by Law & Order (TV), Inspired by Law & Order: SVU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-21
Updated: 2019-09-21
Packaged: 2020-10-25 15:10:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20726243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomPettysHat/pseuds/TomPettysHat
Summary: After a particularly difficult case, Detective Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. decides to let off some steam at a new bar in the Lower East Side. Little did he know that he'd be meeting someone very special that night.





	1. The Lower East Side Bar

It had been a difficult few weeks for Detective Dominick “Sonny” Carisi Jr. After a case involving a sex-trafficking ring that took nearly two weeks to solve, followed by another even more brutal case involving the death of two college students, he was physically and mentally exhausted. He very rarely went down to the Lower East Side but tonight he wanted to just be alone, hidden in the darkness of a bar surrounded by strangers. A bar off ofthe main street would do. It was quiet and dark, only a few people were there. A musky smell of alcohol and vanilla wafted through the air as Carisi walked in through the door. Sitting down at the bar, he ordered a scotch from the college-aged bartender. Soft, indie music played in the background. It was definitely different from what he was used to, this place. But it was exactly what he needed: small, secluded, and far away from the squad room. He rubbed his temples, thinking about how it had become his home away from home the past few days. No sleep, living off of vending machine snacks and putrid coffee. It was a life that he had grown accustomed to, one that he normally found rewarding. But after what he had seen this week, what he had seen the victims going through, he started to question if this type of life was worth it. Was it ever going to make a difference, would all of these late nights and hard work ever pay off? Or would the victims continue to never receive justice? Would the monsters who did this to them walk free and continue to hurt innocent people? Carisi didn’t know. And frankly, he was too angry and drained to figure it out tonight. He knocked back the rest of his scotch on the rocks and sat his glass down on the bar.

As he sat there, debating on whether he was ready to start round two, a group of young women came in. They looked to be in their late 20’s to early 30’s and were huddled together and whispering like a group of schoolchildren on the playground. Carisi smiled thinly as they walked past him. While on a normal night women having a girl’s night out wouldn’t have bothered him, it just hit too close to home for him on this particular evening. This was how his most recent case started: a four women from Hudson University went out to a local bar to celebrate the end of the semester. What started out as a night of fun turned into a morning full of horror as two of the women were found brutally beaten and raped. The remaining two were missing up until a week ago, where their bodies were found decapitated and drained of all fluids in Central Park. They had been, as Rollins called it, “Black Dahlia’d.” It was a case that has shook Carisi to the core; one that, unfortunately, had no signs of being solved anytime soon. Their leads were weak, and Lieutenant Benson worried that the trail was going to go cold soon if they didn’t find something to go on. She had dismissed them for the night, telling them to go home and get some sleep. But Carisi knew he wouldn’t be able to, not after everything he had seen recently. He motioned for his second drink then, figuring he might as well make a night of it at this point. The young bartender nodded and began fixing his drink. Carisi heard the group of women, over at the round table towards the back, laughing and chatting. They had ordered two bottles of wine, and were filling up their glasses. There were four of them; they all seemed very close to one another, as if they had known each other for a while. Friends from college probably, or co-workers, he thought. The bartender sat his drink in front of him. Carisi thanked the young man and started on drink number two. As he began to get more lost in thought, he looked back over at the group of women. They were too invested in their conversations to notice him staring. He didn’t mean to stare, and didn’t want any of them to get the wrong idea. It just…it was too similar to what he had seen. He worried for their safety, and debated going over to tell them to be safe, to stay together, and to all take an Uber home. He had his badge still on him, it wouldn’t have been that weird, would it? He eventually decided against it, and hoped that he wouldn’t end up finding their mutilated bodies in the middle of Central Park the following week. He continued to stare, trying his best to be subtle. Unfortunately, subtlety wasn’t his forte that night, as one of the women locked eyes with him. She stared for a moment and smiled shyly, before beginning to stand up. _Oh, shit_ he thought. This was not what he wanted, not tonight. He quickly turned his head back towards the front of the bar, taking another sip of his drink. The last thing he wanted to do was make these women feel uncomfortable. If anything, he just wanted to protect them. He was ready to say that he was a cop and to explain the recent events that had happened in the city when she approached him.

“Hi,” she said as she stood next to him. She was tall, even with the added height of her wedges. She wore a bright yellow dress, her hair a ring of reddish-brown curls that hit slightly past her jawline. Her lips were full, and painted a deep magenta. _She’s cute_, Carisi thought to himself. He assumed she had come over to chew him out, tell him to stop staring at her and her friends. He didn’t blame her if she did. “Hey, how ya doing?” He asked, ready to use his last bit of energy to explain himself. “You mind if I sit?” She asked. He was surprised, not expecting her to ask that. “Uh, yeah. Sure” he replied and motioned her to sit down on the stool next to him. She sat down, putting her matching wristlet on the bar. The light above the bar hitting her from the side as she rested her arm on the counter, causing Carisi to be able to see her more clearly now. _Really cute. _She motioned for to the bartender to come over to their side. She smiled, her lips parting to speak. “So, you from around here?” “Nah, I live in Manhattan. I’m originally from Staten Island.” The young bartender came back over, asking her what he could get her. “Hi, may I please have the Madame-X Fusion martini?” The bartender nodded and headed back over to start her drink. “Ohh, Staten Island man. Very nice. I’m from Philadelphia myself.” Carisi cocked his head slightly to the side at this, turning to face her more now. “Oh, Philly girl, huh?” She smiled as some pink spread across her cheeks. “What brings you to the Big Apple? Can’t be our impeccable crime record…” he rolled his eyes slightly at that before realizing what he said. He didn’t want to bring that up to her, it wasn’t her problem. “Hmm?” She looked confused at this. “Ahh, nothing,” he responded quickly with a wave of his hand. She continued, “I actually came to Manhattan to teach. I’m a middle school teacher.” The bartender sat her drink in front of her, she nodded slightly and thanked him. She sipped her drink as they continued to chat. “So, what do you teach?” “Seventh grade English. That’s actually part of the reason why I’m here, my co-workers and I are celebrating the end of the school year. We just had our last in-service of the year today.” She turned slightly around and motioned to the round table in the back, where the other three women continued to chat. The one, a dark-skinned woman with long braids, gave her a thumbs up and a goofy grin. The woman in the yellow dress waved lazily at her friend and rolled her eyes slightly as she turned back to Carisi, smirking slightly. He furrowed his brows in confusion at this. “What, what was that about?” He asked, nodding to the back. She sighed, “ohh, well the other reason that I’m here is because my lovely co-workers thought it would be a great place for me to meet a man.” She turned to the front of the bar, motioning for the bartender again. “I have a feeling I’m going to need another of these tonight,” she said as she pointed to her half empty glass. Carisi stared, and finally realized why she had come over to talk to him. Her friends pushed her into it. He looked down at the floor, not sure how to respond to her. She must have noticed this, because she chuckled nervously. “I’m sorry if I made this weird for you,” she grimaced and rubbed the back of her neck. “They uh, mean well. You know? “Yeah, I know what you mean,” Carisi remarked. And indeed he did. As the only boy in a family of three sisters, he knew how it went when women got to a certain age, especially where their female friends were concerned. He could tell by her body language and the way she was avoiding her friends that this was not something she usually did, nor was it something she was necessarily comfortable doing. “You didn’t make it weird for me,” he told her. She smiled again, relief in her eyes. “So, now that you heard from me, what about you? What’s your story?” she asked, finishing her first round. “I’m a cop, er, detective rather. I work for Manhattan’s Special Victims Unit.” She raised her an eyebrow at this. “Special Victims Unit, huh? I think I’ve heard of your department before. Aren’t you those guys who were investigating that case with those college students who got murdered?? That’s been all over the news the past few weeks. It’s just terrible” she remarked as she shook her head and started to tut-tut. She was about to go on when she noticed that Carisi’s face had fallen slightly at the mention of the case. She internally scolded herself for bringing it up. She of all people knew better than most not to bring up cases outside of work. Especially when said cases involved such gruesome acts. Now she felt even worse. First she comes over and makes it sound like she’s just talking to him in order to find a husband, now she starts gossiping about a case that he clearly doesn’t want to talk about. _Way to go, Maggie. Way to freakin’ go_, she thought to herself. She stirred the remaining liquid in her martini glass with the cinnamon stick garnish, an awkward silence washing over the bar.

“Either of you want anything else?” The bartender said as he made his way down to them. “I’ll have another” she said, barely letting the bartender get his last word out. As he went back to prepare her another drink, she turned back to him. She had decided that she was gonna leave and head back over to her friends. She was obviously not making this guy’s night any better. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought that up. Maybe I should go” she said, biting at the corner of her lip. “No, no. It’s okay. You don’t have to go, I mean if you don’t want to” he said, shaking his head. He moved forward slightly, the dim light above illuminating his eyes. She could now see they were a beautiful shade of blue, so warm and comforting. Her heart skipped a beat at this. _Oh man_, she thought to herself. _He’s a real dish. _She swallowed nervously at this, not sure where to go from here. There was a part of her that wanted to run back to the table her friends were at and awkwardly avoid eye contact with him for the rest of the night. But there was also a part of her that couldn’t; a part of her that was curious. The opportunity to learn more about this mysterious, Staten Island-accented man with the warm eyes was very tempting. And she was not one to pass up an opportunity. She cleared her throat to speak. “You know, I just realized something. We haven’t properly introduced ourselves. And yep” she paused as she raised a hand slightly to her left ear, “I think I hear my mother back in Cedar Park scolding me right now,” she said as she smirked and let out an amused sigh. Carisi chuckled at that, knowing full well his ma in Staten Island is probably doing the same thing. “Your parents kind of old-fashioned too?” He asked. “Not normally, they’re actually pretty with the times, but when it comes to manners well, my mama could give Miss Manners a run for her money” she said, now turning to face the bar. She began to speak ina thick, Philadelphia accent. “ ‘Oh, Mag-pie. You can’t carry on a conversation with a man without being properly introduced first. He needs to know your name before he gets to know _you_.’ ” She gestured dramatically as she did this, ending with another roll of her eyes. Carisi smiled at this. She was funny _and_ cute, and he knew this kind of conversation all too well. “Well I think we can fix that, doll. Name’s Dominick Carisi Jr. Call me Sonny.” He held out his hand. She smiled warmly at this, and reached out her hand to shake his. “Margaret Louise Coleman, but you can call me Maggie."


	2. Miss Maggie Coleman

“So, wait, you have three sisters? You’re the only boy?” Maggie asked. As the night went on, the two strangers became more familiar with one another. They talked about everything, from their families to their childhoods, even to embarrassing work-related stories. It was just so easy for them to talk to one another, almost like it came second nature. “Yep, the only boy. Besides my pops” Carisi replied. “Oy. I don’t know how you made it out alive. Are you the oldest?” Carisi shook his head. “Nah, my sister Teresa is. Then Gina, me, and my little sister Bella,” he named them off while counting on his fingers. As he did so, Maggie listened intently. Then, without missing a beat remarked, “You’re Catholic, aren’t you?” “As a matter of fact, I am,” he answered, chuckling a little. She smiled, and Carisi’s could feel the blood rush to his cheeks. “You know, I’m surprised they didn’t make you play dress up and cover you in make up when you were kids” “Oh, no. They definitely did. They treated me like their own personal doll. My ma has the pictures as proof.” Maggie smiled, imagining the tall, lanky detective covered in sparkly pink eye shadow and dressed up in a princess dress. “Well, I bet your were adorable,” she remarked with a flirtatious tone in her voice. “Oh, yeah. I was absolutely precious modeling my sister Gina’s Rainbow-Brite bed sheets.” She began to laugh at this point, and Carisi couldn’t help but laugh along with her. Even her laugh is cute, he thought to himself. “Hahaha, oh man. Your family sounds really great, Sonny. I can tell they mean a lot to you.” He smiled, beginning to nod. “Yeah, they do. My parents, they’re the best. My ma was always there for me and my sisters growing up, teaching us right from wrong. And my pops, I tell ya, I’ve never met a man who sacrificed that much for his family. There wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do to provide for his kids.” Sonny could have gone on and on about his family, but he didn’t want to do all the talking. He wanted to learn more about the young woman with the doe eyes and infectious laugh sitting next to him.

“What about you? What’s your family like?” He asked. “Well, I have an older brother and sister who are fraternal twins, Evan and Danielle. Evan is an investment banker over in Scarsdale and Dani does PR for the 76’ers. They were inseparable when we were kids, and still are. I have never seen two people with such a strong connection. I can’t imagine knowing someone on such an emotional level; being that close to them...” Carisi noticed there was a twinge of sadness to her voice as she said this. She rested her chin in her hand, looking down at the wooden bar in front of her. “Were you not very close with them?” He inquired. She turned her face back towards him. “Growing up, no. I love them dearly, I do. But when you’re the youngest in the family and your older siblings are you know, attached at the hip from the moment they’re born...I don’t know, I just kind of always felt a little left out” Flecks of loneliness nipped at her features, her eyes hiding a quiet sadness. “What about your parents?” He pressed, unsure of if this was too invasive. “They were there for us as much as they could be. They provided for us, kept a roof over our heads, gave us unending support and love, all that. But, my mom was a neonatal nurse at Penn and my dad was a sergeant for Philly PD, so…” “So you didn’t see them very often,” Carisi finished, as Maggie nodded. “It’s...hard to feel close to someone when they’re not always there, especially when they’re off saving other people’s lives. That’s why I felt so bad about asking you about that case earlier. I of all people should know better than to discuss cases outside of the squad-room, not only for legal purposes but because it’s such a…sensitive situation. I’m sorry again about that,” she said sheepishly. “Hey, don’t feel too bad. It’s okay. No harm, no foul” Carisi reassured her. “So what district was your dad stationed at?” He asked. “He was mainly at the 15th, but they transferred him to the 8th after I was born. He loved his job a lot, but I’m really happy he’s retired now,” she added quickly to the end of her sentence. “It was just hard. He’d work such long, random hours; So would my mom. But I know they both really loved all their kids.” She smiled thinly, but Carisi could still see some sadness behind her eyes.

“The thing that I always had were books, though. Growing up, oh man, I’d spend hours and hours reading. And nothing specific, just anything I could get my hands on. By the time I read through the whole children’s section of our library at least twice, I decided to start writing my own stories, since I wasn’t old enough for the adult section yet” she let out an amused sigh. “I’d fill up notebooks with my all my ideas. I’d keep a diary and write down all of my thoughts, or write about my day when I’d come home from school. I’d even write poetry if I was having a really bad day. Not very good poetry, though. It was actually pretty atrocious” Carisi chuckled at that, as did Maggie. “But, it was what I loved, it’s what made me happy. It was my sanctuary, you know? And it’s why I became a teacher; I wanted to pass that down to other children.” Carisi listened to her as she talked, watching her eyes light up as she became more excited. She gesticulated wildly as the two talked about their favorite authors and favorite works. She talked about how she wrote for her high school’s paper, and how she was trying to start one for her middle schoolers at school. She talked about how she encouraged her students to read everything, even the things they never thought they’d be interested in. She talked about how she’d have them to go home and before they did anything else, write about anything they wanted, no matter what it was. He had never met a woman, least in this context, who was so passionate about what she loved. Someone who wanted to pass that love on to others, and make them feel the kind of happiness she did. To Carisi, there was something so beautiful about that. She was beautiful. And that night, in a small bar in the Lower East Side, surrounded by empty bar stools and quiet guitar music, Sonny Carisi fell in love with a middle school teacher from Philadelphia.


	3. The Walk Home

As the two continued to talk, Carisi felt more relaxed than he had in a very long time. The weeks of physical and emotional exhaustion suddenly didn’t matter as much, not with Maggie there. He felt that, regardless of the outcome, what he was doing _was_ worth it in the end, and he had to keep believing that. While they continued their conversation on guilty pleasure bad movies, Caris noticed that the bar was now almost entirely empty. Even Maggie’s friends had left their table in the back. He glanced down at his watch and saw it was nearly 3:00 AM. “Oh, damn. I didn’t realize it was that late.” Maggie checked her phone. “Oh, shit you’re right. I didn’t even see my friends leave. Looks like they all just took an Uber home.” “Well, that’s good they all got home okay,” he remarked, relieved that at least three people were safe in this city tonight. “Yeah. But I guess I’ll be heading back on my own,” she sighed as she motioned the bartender over to close her tab. Carisi didn’t like the idea of her out in NYC on her own this late at night. Not after everything he’d seen as of late. “No, you won’t. I’ll walk you home.” She raised her eyebrows at this. “Really? Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that, Sonny. You’re off-duty anyway.” As the bartender came over, Maggie paid her tab. When Carisi went to pay his, the bartender shook his head. “Nah, the lady gotcha covered, man. You’re good to go.” Carisi turned his head towards Maggie, giving her a confused look. “What? It’s the least I could do after you let me talk your ear off all night,” she said with a chuckle. _Doll, I could listen to you talk for hours if you’d let me_, he thought as he smiled. “Nah, I didn’t really mind. I had a lot of fun. But thanks, though.” She smiled, standing up from her stool and grabbing her wristlet. “Anytime, Sonny. And are you sure you don’t mind walking me home? I’ll be okay. We Philly girls know how to take care of ourselves, you know” she said with a wink. He held up his hand at this and shook his head. “I insist, Maggie. I’d sleep better at night knowing you’re home safely.” As they headed out for the exit, he could see her face turn a light shade of pink at this as she smiled shyly. “Spoken like a true cop,” she remarked.

The two made their way out of the bar and into the streets of Manhattan. The lights from buildings and various signs helped light the way they headed down the street towards her place. As they walked down the street, Carisi fought the urge to reach for her hand. He wondered if it would be too forward of him, and he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. As they continued to walk, he noticed her hand brushed slightly against his. He didn’t think much of it at first, but when it happened a second time he started to think it might be intentional. He glanced out of his peripheral to see that she was still blushing, and doing her best to look nonchalant. He smirked to himself as he reached over and gently took her hand. As he did so, he heard her inhale sharply, and her face turn a deeper shade of pink. They continued to walk in silence, but it was different than the awkward silence in the bar earlier. It was peaceful, they could both just enjoy the company of one another, not having to fill the space with unnecessary talk. As they came to the end of the street, a set of steps leading up to a brownstone apartment building could be seen.

“Well, this is me,” Maggie said gesturing to the steps. As they stopped and stood in front of them, Carisi took her other hand. “It was really nice meeting you, Sonny. I had a lot of fun tonight. Thanks again for walking me home.” “No problem. And hey, off duty or not I gotta protect and serve. I took an oath and everything.” She smiled and looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. “Did you want to come in?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper, her shoulders tensing up. _Oy vey, what am I doing?! I’ve never once had a guy stay the night. Wait, do I have condoms?? _He was silent for a moment. They had both drank a good bit at the bar, and while neither of them seemed entirely intoxicated, the gentlemen in him didn’t feel right about it. “I uh, can’t. Have to be back in the AM pretty early.” It wasn’t a lie. He did have to be back pretty early. But he was afraid that she would be disappointed. “I understand,” she said. Her shoulders started to loosen up then, whatever nervousness she had disappearing. _Oh, thank God._ “I should probably turn in myself. I’m not used to being up this late” she let go of his hands, turning to head up the stairs. “Yeah…Hey, Maggie” Carisi asked. Maggie stopped on the third step, turning back around to face him. “Yeah?” Carisi swallowed, giving himself a minute to collect his thoughts. _Oh, Christ. What do I say? Think, Carisi, think. You deal with rapists and pedophiles on a daily basis. You can talk to a woman. _“It was really nice meeting you too. I needed a night like tonight. Thanks for that.” Maggie smiled warmly, heading back down the stairs to him again. She grabbed either side of his face and pulled him in towards her, kissing him passionately. He wrapped his arms around her lower back, lifting her feet slightly off the ground. He could smell the jasmine in her perfume, feel her soft skin through the low-cut back of her dress. He never wanted this moment to end. He couldn’t explain it, but he just knew there was no one else he wanted, no one else that made him feel this way. He pulled her in closer and she reciprocated, turning her head to deepen the kiss on her end. She let a small moan escape from her lips as Carisi pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. “I didn’t know this was a part of protecting and serving detective,” she said, her voice raspy and low. Carisi smirked and gently wrapped his finger around a curl on the side of her face. As he put her back down, she looked up at him seductively through her eyelashes. “I’ll text you tomorrow?” “Sounds good to me, doll.” She smiled widely and laid a chaste kiss on his lips before turning and heading up the stairs again. As she went to open the door, she turned around once again and waved to Sonny, who smiled and waved back. After getting into the building and making her way to the elevator, she pressed the fourth floor button to her apartment upon entering. As the heavy, steel doors closed behind her, she felt her knees go weak under her. A fit of giggles erupted from her lips as she sunk down to the floor. I **_knew_**_ he was a dish, _she thought to herself as the elevator stopped on her floor.

**The End**


End file.
